The Internet comprises a vast number of computers and computer networks that are interconnected through communication links. The interconnected computers exchange information using various services, such as electronic mail, Gopher, and the World Wide Web (“WWW”). The WWW service allows a server computer system (i.e., Web server or Web site) to send graphical Web pages of information to a remote client computer system. The remote client computer system can then display the Web pages. Each resource (e.g., computer or Web page) of the WWW is uniquely identifiable by a Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”). To view a specific Web page, a client computer system specifies the URL for that Web page in a request (e.g., a HyperText Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) request). The request is forwarded to the Web server that supports that Web page. When that Web server receives the request, it sends that Web page to the client computer system. When the client computer system receives that Web page, it typically displays the Web page using a browser (i.e., a special-purpose application program that effects the requesting of Web pages and the displaying of Web pages).
Currently, Web pages are typically defined using HyperText Markup Language (“HTML”). HTML provides a standard set of tags that define how a Web page is to be displayed. When a user indicates to the browser to display a Web page, the browser sends a request to the server computer system to transfer to the client computer system an HTML document that defines the Web page. When the requested HTML document is received by the client computer system, the browser displays the Web page as defined by the HTML document. The HTML document contains various tags that control the displaying of text, graphics, controls, and other features. The HTML document may contain URLs of other Web pages available on that server computer system or other server computer systems.
The World Wide Web is especially conducive to conducting electronic commerce. Many Web servers have been developed through which vendors can advertise and provide items. The item can be products that are delivered electronically to the purchaser over the Internet (e.g., music) and products that are delivered through conventional distribution channels (e.g., books delivered by a common carrier). Similarly, the items can be services that are provided either electronically (e.g., providing email service) or physically (e.g., performing cleaning services at the purchaser's house). While an orderer or purchaser of an item typically obtains full ownership of the item, other types of purchase transactions include renting, leasing, trying an evaluation copy of an item for free for a limited time, licensing, bartering, and exchanging.
A server computer system that is providing a item ordering or purchasing service may provide information about the available items using an electronic version of a catalog. A user (or “customer”) may then use a browser to view and select various items in the catalog that are to be purchased. When the user has completed selecting the items to be purchased, the server computer system then prompts the user for information to complete the ordering of the items. This purchaser-specific order information may include the purchaser's name, the purchaser's credit card number, and a shipping address for the order. The server computer system then typically confirms the order by sending a confirming Web page to the client computer system and schedules shipment of the items.
The selection of the various items from the electronic catalogs is generally based on the “shopping cart” ordering/purchasing model. When the purchaser selects an item from the electronic catalog, the server computer system metaphorically adds that item to a shopping cart. When the purchaser is done selecting items, then all the items in the shopping cart can be “checked out” (i.e., ordered) when the purchaser provides billing and shipment information. In some models, when a purchaser selects any one item, then that item is “checked out” by automatically prompting the user for the billing and shipment information. Although the shopping cart model is very flexible and intuitive, it has a downside in that it requires many interactions by the purchaser. Thus, if a purchaser is ordering only one item, the overhead of confirming the various steps of the ordering process and waiting for, viewing, and updating the purchaser-specific order information can be significant. Also, sensitive information is transmitted over the Internet each time an order is placed using the shopping cart model, and thus is susceptible to being intercepted and decrypted.
Some Web sites also provide Web-based gift registry functionality (e.g., www.wishclick.com and www.netgift.com) in which a user can manually specify indications of items which they are interested in receiving, such as a “wish list” of desired items. Other users that desire to give a gift to that user can view the user's wish list, and then order or purchase an item from the list for the user. When using such wish lists, the gift recipient is more likely to receive appropriate gifts that they desire, and a gift giver is more likely to be able to provide such gifts to the recipient. Moreover, some Web sites may additionally track the items that gift givers purchase for the recipient, and automatically remove those items from the wish list when they are purchased.
Unfortunately, item ordering or purchasing services can be difficult to operate in certain circumstances. For example, if a user of such a service desires to send multiple items to a recipient, the user can manually specify the multiple items one-by-one (e.g., by placing all of the items in a shopping cart) and then order those items. However, item purchasing services will not typically treat the multiple items as a group—for example, some of the items may be shipped at different times if they have different availability or shipping needs. Even if an item purchasing service allows the user to indicate to ship all of the items together, the multiple items will not typically be treated as a group for other purposes such as pricing and availability (i.e., pricing and availability information will be presented separately for each individual item rather than for the group). In addition, if the user later desires to order the same multiple items (e.g., for a different recipient), the user will have to manually re-specify all of the items. This process can be time-consuming and frustrating.
Other problems with current item ordering or purchasing services relate to situations in which a user desires to order items for a recipient, but has difficulty in identifying appropriate items to order. For example, the user may be attempting to order items for a particular occasion (e.g., the birthday of the user's mother, or Easter), but have difficulty identifying items that would be of interest for the recipient on the occasion. Alternately, the user may know specific interests of the recipient (e.g., wine tasting, rock climbing, 18th century French literature, etc.), but have difficulty identifying items that would be of interest to people with such interests. In other situations, the user may know only limited information about a potential recipient (e.g., only a username or an actual name) that does not include any information about the interests of the recipient.